Although one might think Gleason is not the brightest bulb, he obviously believes himself smarter than I, Al Gore, 99.9% of climate scientists, and all but one world leader. What makes Gleason so brilliant in his own mind? He apparently jumps to conclusions with the aid of a pogo stick.

Read to the end of Joe's piece for the final flicking away of this fly.

At Reason, Ron Bailey explores the concept of "atomic humanism," in which humans get INCREDIBLE NEW POWERS BY HARNESSING THE POWER OF THE ATOM. (I wish.) No, atomic humanism is the view that in order to ensure prosperity to the greatest possible number of people, we must embrace nuclear power, contra the claims of many in the environmental movement.a

Pope Fluffy muses on climate change deniers and their mindset in a time of super-hurricanes and wildfires: "Man is stupid, the Bible said. It’s like that, when you don’t want to see, you don’t see."

We already know that Mike Pence describes himself as first a Christian, second a conservative, and third a Republican. Well, Trump "spiritual adviser" Paula White insists that Trump is "1000 percent ... not a racist" and "100 percent is a Christian," so I guess that means Trump's first super-totally-not-a-racist, second a Christian-in-totality, and third...um...

An Australian man trying to treat his prostate cancer with alternative treatments gives himself cyanide poisoning by ingesting apricot kernel extract. He lived, but he had 25 times the safe levels of cyanide in his system.

Researchers look into whether Reddit's 2015 ban on overt hate speech subreddits had any impact on the site, and, well, it looks like it did. From their conclusion:

Users participating in the banned subreddits either left the site or (for those who remained) dramatically reduced their hate speech usage. Communities that inherited the displaced activity of these users did not suffer from an increase in hate speech.

You know how Trump has trouble categorically denouncing Nazis? Roy Moore, likely Alabama's next U.S. Senator, has trouble categorically rejecting the execution of gays for being gay. When asked by a wingnut radio host whether he agrees with the Bible that gays should be executed, Moore said in 2015:

Well I don’t, you know, I’m not here to outline any punishments for sodomy. That’s far beyond any issues I’ve come in contact with. I can’t help what some people say, what some people do.

In Brazil, an art exhibition on gender diversity is cancelled when religious groups launch a campaign against it, accusing it of promoting blasphemy, pedophilia, and bestiality. Sounds like the South American version of Rick Santorum.

What a horror show: In Lanarkshire, Scotland, the bodies of more than 400 children are found buried at a care home run by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul. The children seem to have largely died of natural causes, but as the BBC reports, "Many allegations of abuse at the care home were also uncovered ... including beatings, punches, public humiliations and psychological abuse."

Having trouble controlling your life force? Tell me about it. So just do like Hillary and Deepak do, and try alternate nostril breathing. Or, alternately, don't.

Quote of the Day:

Holy crap, this is an Australian ad for lamb from a meat industry group, featuring Jesus, Zeus, Moses, Buddha, Ganesh, and other gods because lamb is "the meat we can all eat." Ganesh's appearance is making some Hindus angry because the god is supposed to be vegetarian, and guess who doesn't show up:

Not present at the meal is the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims consider images of the founder of their faith to be extremely offensive. In the ad, Muhammad calls in (“Can’t make an appearance?” Jesus asks) claiming he has to pick up the kids from daycare. Muslims are permitted up to four wives.

The end of the ad highlights the nones. You just have to watch.

* * *

Linking to a story or webpage does not imply endorsement by Paul or CFI. Not every use of quotation marks is ironic or sarcastic, but it often is.

News items that mention political​ candidates are for informational purposes only and under no circumstances are to be interpreted as statements of endorsement or opposition to any political candidate. CFI is a nonpartisan nonprofit.

The Morning Heresy: "I actually read it." - Hemant Mehta

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Paul Fidalgo has been communications director of the Center for Inquiry since 2012. He holds a master’s degree in political management from George Washington University, and has worked previously for FairVote: The Center for Voting and Democracy and the Secular Coalition for America. Paul is also an actor and musician whose work includes five years performing with the American Shakespeare Center. He lives in Maine with his wife and kids. His blog is Near-Earth Object, and he tweets at @paulfidalgo.